Woman in Pink
- Date
- c.1924
- Material
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Paintings
- Collection
- Modern and Contemporary Art
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 28 3/4 × 21 3/8 in. (73 × 54.3 cm)
framed: 35 3/8 × 28 3/8 × 3 1/4 in. (89.9 × 72.1 × 8.3 cm) - Credit Line
- Given by Sam J. Levin and Audrey L. Levin
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 27:1992
NOTES
Chaïm Soutine twisted the form of his female subject into a swirling mass of red, coral, and yellow brushstrokes that fills most of the canvas to the edges. The gold chair bends as well, echoing the woman’s malleable body. Soutine’s vigorous, wild brushstrokes and spatial distortions counteract the formal pose and composition of the portrait. Soutine moved to Paris from his native Belarus, then part of Russia, in 1913 and joined a group of avant-garde artists that included Amedeo Modigliani and Jacques Lipchitz, both of whose work is on view in this gallery. Soutine, who was Jewish, would later die from illness while hiding from the Nazis during their occupation of Paris.
Provenance
by 1950 -
Oscar (1886-1956) and Béatrice Miestchaninoff, Paris, France; New York, NY, USA [1]
by 1968 - 1992
Samuel J. Levin and Audrey L. Levin (1914-1991), Miami Beach, FL; St. Louis, MO [2]
1992 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Audrey L. Levin [3]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the 1993 catalogue raisonné of Soutine's paintings [Tuchman, Maurice, Esti Dunow, and Klaus Perls. "Chaim Soutine (1893-1943) Catalogue Raisonné Werkverzeichnis." Cologne: Benedikt Taschen Verlag, 1993, Vol. 2, Portraits 79, p. 630-631]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] Oscar Miestchaninoff was a French sculptor who took the painter in when Soutine moved to Paris [Guese, Ernst-Gerhard. "Death and Destruction in the Work of Chaim Soutine," in "Soutine (1893-1943)." New York: Galleri Bellman, 1983, p. 23]. Soutine's relationship with Oscar Miestchaninoff was a close one, as evidenced by the fact that Soutine also painted a portrait of his fellow artist, c.1923-24, a work which was not commissioned by Miestchaninoff [Posèq, Avigdor W. G. "Soutine: His Jewish Modality." Sussex, England: Book Guild, 2001, p. 11]. The Miestchaninoff's owned several paintings by Soutine, and quite likely received "Woman in Pink" directly from the artist.
According to the catalogue raisonné, Mr. and Mrs. Miestchaninoff owned this painting in 1950, the same year that it was lent to an exhibition in New York. The catalogue for the exhibition simply lists the lender as Private Collection, New York [Wheeler, Monroe. "Soutine." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1950, p. 54, 112].
[2] A catalogue for a 1968 exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art lists this painting as lent by Mr. and Mrs. S. J. Levin, Miami Beach [Tuchman, Maurice. "Chaim Soutine 1893-1943." Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1968, cat. 39]. The exhibition then traveled to the Israel Museum, Jerusalem in the summer of 1968. An exhibition label on the back of the painting from the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, lists Mr. and Mrs. Levin as the lenders. The painting is also indicated as from the Levin collection in publications from 1977 and 1985 [Werner, Alfred. "Chaim Soutine." New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1977, cat. 10; Werner, Alfred. "Chaim Soutine." New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1985, cat. 7].
According to correspondence between the Museum and the Trustees of the Audrey L. Levin Revocable Trust, after Audrey L. Levin died, the painting remained part of her estate under the care of the Trustees, until the Museum accessioned the work in 1992 [letter dated January 29, 1992, SLAM document files].
[3] Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, March 18, 1992.
Oscar (1886-1956) and Béatrice Miestchaninoff, Paris, France; New York, NY, USA [1]
by 1968 - 1992
Samuel J. Levin and Audrey L. Levin (1914-1991), Miami Beach, FL; St. Louis, MO [2]
1992 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Audrey L. Levin [3]
Notes:
The main source for this provenance is the 1993 catalogue raisonné of Soutine's paintings [Tuchman, Maurice, Esti Dunow, and Klaus Perls. "Chaim Soutine (1893-1943) Catalogue Raisonné Werkverzeichnis." Cologne: Benedikt Taschen Verlag, 1993, Vol. 2, Portraits 79, p. 630-631]. Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[1] Oscar Miestchaninoff was a French sculptor who took the painter in when Soutine moved to Paris [Guese, Ernst-Gerhard. "Death and Destruction in the Work of Chaim Soutine," in "Soutine (1893-1943)." New York: Galleri Bellman, 1983, p. 23]. Soutine's relationship with Oscar Miestchaninoff was a close one, as evidenced by the fact that Soutine also painted a portrait of his fellow artist, c.1923-24, a work which was not commissioned by Miestchaninoff [Posèq, Avigdor W. G. "Soutine: His Jewish Modality." Sussex, England: Book Guild, 2001, p. 11]. The Miestchaninoff's owned several paintings by Soutine, and quite likely received "Woman in Pink" directly from the artist.
According to the catalogue raisonné, Mr. and Mrs. Miestchaninoff owned this painting in 1950, the same year that it was lent to an exhibition in New York. The catalogue for the exhibition simply lists the lender as Private Collection, New York [Wheeler, Monroe. "Soutine." New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1950, p. 54, 112].
[2] A catalogue for a 1968 exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art lists this painting as lent by Mr. and Mrs. S. J. Levin, Miami Beach [Tuchman, Maurice. "Chaim Soutine 1893-1943." Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1968, cat. 39]. The exhibition then traveled to the Israel Museum, Jerusalem in the summer of 1968. An exhibition label on the back of the painting from the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, lists Mr. and Mrs. Levin as the lenders. The painting is also indicated as from the Levin collection in publications from 1977 and 1985 [Werner, Alfred. "Chaim Soutine." New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1977, cat. 10; Werner, Alfred. "Chaim Soutine." New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1985, cat. 7].
According to correspondence between the Museum and the Trustees of the Audrey L. Levin Revocable Trust, after Audrey L. Levin died, the painting remained part of her estate under the care of the Trustees, until the Museum accessioned the work in 1992 [letter dated January 29, 1992, SLAM document files].
[3] Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, March 18, 1992.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.